Synopses & Reviews
This exciting series of beginning chapter books follows the energetic and curious Sam on his adventures in beautiful Seldovia, Alaska, where he lives with his parents and dog, Neptune. Humor, family relationships, survival, natural history, and geography are all part of Sam's ""misadventures."" A map and author's note portray the real Seldovia while lively illustrations help readers to visualize characters and place. A great choice for avid and reluctant readers! In this new adventure, Sam discovers and reports a wildfire that is dangerously close to the isolated community of Seldovia. When the townspeople gather to be evacuated onto fishing boats, Sam realizes his friend's family hasn't made it to the docks and heads out to find them! Heroic Sam and Neptune escort the family and rescue their litter of kittens. Included is natural history information about the spruce bark beetle life cycle and wildfires-the dangers as well as the benefits to the forest and wildlife.
Review
Beginning readers will enjoy Sam's adventures, because he always seems to find mischief, even when he has the best intentions. The illustrations bring Sam and his dog, Neptune, to life for readers and will help those struggling with the story to better understand it and the characters that Springer has created.
Sam is a delightful young person who will draw beginning chapter book readers into his rugged life in the Alaskan wilderness.
----Lynn Evarts, Book Reviews, ForeWord magazine
Synopsis
"Alaska is so big that if you could lay it on top of the continental United States, it would cover one-fifth of all the other states. And there really is a place called Seldovia. It's about 250 miles south of Anchorage. But there are no roads to get there. To reach Seldovia you have to fly in a plane or take a boat. Some of the place-names in Sam's stories are real; others are made up. Like Sam's parents, lots of men and women in Seldovia fly Bush planes and fish commercially. Is there a real Sam Peterson in Seldovia? Not by that name. But there's a little bit of Sam in all the kids of Seldovia, just as I suspect there's a little bet of Sam in you." ---Susan Woodward Springer
Synopsis
Wow! Things are really heating up in Sam's latest adventure--- a wildfire is raging in the forest near Seldovia, and Sam is stirred into action when his friends need him. But, as you'll soon discover, Nepture, Sam's dog, is the hero of the day. Wow! Things are really heating up in Sam's latest misadventure---a wildfire is raging near Seldovia, and Sam is stirred into action when his friends need him. But, as you'll discover, Neptune the dog is the hero of the day.
Sam doesn't go looking for trouble, but he always seems to find it! As in the other Seldovia Sam books, readers learn more about nature, friendship, and heroism in this, the third book in the The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam series.
About the Author
Susan Springer grew up in a fishing village on the coast of Maine. She attended college in Maine and Vermont, and worked in Utah and Maine before moving to Alaska in 1985 where she developed the series, The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam.
Her previous publications include Seldovia, Alaska: An Historical Portrait of Life in Herring Bay (Blue Willow, Ind. 1997). And an environmental education color book commission in 1995 by Alyeska Pipeline Co. Her text and interactive pen pal program featuring Alaska schools, titled Alaska…Pure Poetry, is part of Alyeskas environmental education program and was selected by the Smithsonian Museum gift shop to complement the Alaska Pipeline exhibit. A portion of the authors proceeds from The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam have been earmarked for the Alaska Childrens Trust.
Susan Springer, an artist and writer currently lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Amy Meissner completed her undergraduate degrees in art and textiles in Nevada and spent several years as a clothing designer in the United States and Canada. Amy received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage, while focusing on her artwork in her spare time. Besides her existing illustrations in the expanding series entitled, The Misadventures of Seldovia Sam, she has illustrated three other childrens books.
Amy Meissner currently lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska. Her two, bad orange cats keep her company in the studio all day long where she paints, draws, writes, cuts fabric, and moves cats off the things they aren't supposed to sleep on.
Table of Contents
Chapters
1 Dry as Dog Biscuts
2 A Wisp of Smoke
3 A Fire Is Reborn
4 Worst Fears Confirmed
5 The Battle Begins
6 Our Best Shot
7 Where Will It Stop?
8 Dogs, Cats, and a Miracle
9 State Ferry to the Rescue
10 Gits Given and Received